Compass



y 1934. J. FISCHER 1,958,989

COMPASS Filed July 19, 1932 ATTORNEY INVENTOR' Patented May 15, 1934 COMPASS John Fischer, Bronx, N. Y.

Application July 19, 1932, Serial No. 623,331

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in compasses, particularly in the pencil holding devices for such compasses.

My invention, however, is not restricted to the pencil holders for compasses alone, but may just as well be applied to all pencil holding devices of suitable construction.

The known pencil holders of this character in which for instance a clamp is used to clamp the pencil in place show the disadvantage of damaging the pencil, its wood as well as the lead. Furthermore, they will not allow an accurate adjustment of the pencil conform to the length of the other pointed shank of the compass, because the final operation of the clamping lever will produce a displacement of the pencil adjustment, which, even if very slight, will result in irregularities in the outline of the circle to be drawn, or in other words will be the cause of annoying and at times harmful, irregularities in measurements and drawing.

These disadvantages are positively avoided by the pencil holder for compasses constructed according to my invention. It is the principal object of my invention to provide a pencil holder integral with one shank of the compass and consisting of an open, and, therefore, elastic sleeve, the material of which is longitudinally slotted, having its slots at an inclination to one another and to the blank in which they are made for guiding the lips or flanges of a slide by means of which the elastic sleeve is clamped about the pencil.

Another object of my invention is the provision 10f a pencil holder adapted to firmly and securely hold pencils of any desired shape, circular, hexagonal, octolateral or in shortwords pencils of any desired shape and outline, as well as mechanical pencils of various diameters.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of a pencil holder firmly holding the pencil in its adjusted position, and which is convenient to operate and allows a ready removal of the pencil by pushing the same downwardly while positively holding the same against slipping back because any added upwardly directed pressure will tend only to hold the pencil more securely.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a pencil holder principally for compasses, the arc of which is made in one piece with the shank with which the pencil holder is formed, as the practice has shown that arcs which are combined with the compass shank by spot-welding or the like readily break off making the compass useless. A still further object of my invention is the provision of a compass, the shanks of which are connected by a solid rivet positively avoiding all danger of shearing off during use and a novel cap arrangement on a one piece center tab.

It will be clear that the clamp slide could also have any other form than that of a sleeve, it could be suitably tapered or made to engage the guide sleeve from the outside or in any suitable manner.

These and other objects of my invention will become more fully known as the description thereof proceeds as will then be more specifically defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is an edge view of a compass shank equipped with a pencil holder constructed according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a compass constructed according to my invention.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a blank from which a compass shank with its arc and a pencil holder according to my invention are made.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail View of a pencil holder.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section on line 55 of Figure 4.

As illustrated, a compass having the shanks 10, 11, has the same pivotally connected at their upper ends by means of a solid rivet 12. The shank 11 is equipped with any suitable means to hold the point 13 at its lower end, while the shank 10 is formed integrally with a plate 14 having longitudinal slots 15, 16, converging towards the top. This blank 14 is bent upon itself to form a sleeve for the endwise reception of a pencil 17.

A slide 18 having an upper handle 19 is guided with its lateral tongues 20, 21, in the slots 15, 16, and the tongues have each a groove 22 in their front face to slidably engage the outer edge of the Wall of the material forming the slots 15, 16.

A graduated are 23 is integrally formed with the material of the shank 10.

A cap 24 is provided on a one piece center tab 25.

In other respects the compass is built as an ordinary conventional type of compass.

It will be understood that I have described and shown the preferred form of my device only as one example of the many possible ways to practically construct the same and that I can make such changes in the general arrangement of my compass and the construction of the minor details thereof as come within the scope of the appended claims without departure from the spirit of my invention and the principles involved.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A means on a compass shank for holding a pencil comprising an elastic sleeve having converging slots, sliding means, displaceably, guided, tongues on said means formed integrally therewith and laterally extending therefrom for engaging the slots in said sleeve to firmly engage said sleeve about a pencil upon the operationof said slide to bring its tongues into engagement with the converging slots at their point of nearest approach, to hold the pencil in the compass by tightly drawing the material of the sleeve about the pencil.

2. A pencil holding device, principally for compasses comprising in combination with one of the shanks of said compass an elastic longitudinally split sleeve integrally made therewith of substantially semi-circular cross-section and provided with elongated and converging slots in its side walls, a slide displaceably guided in said sleeve, and a handle therefor, tongues formed with said slide engaging in said slots to firmly draw the material of said sleeve about a pencil therein upon the operation of said handle to operate said slide to bring its tongues into engagement with said slots at their nearest point of approach.

3. In combination with a compass shank, a split pencil holder made from a blank formed integrally with said shank substantially semi-circular in cross-section and having longitudinally extending converging slots in its oppositely disposed side walls, and a slide guided between said guide edges and having a handle, grooved tongues formed with said slide laterally extending therefrom adapted to be displaced upon the operation of said slide by means of its handle to engage the material forming said slots in the grooves of said tongues and to compress said holder about a pencil upon engagement of the tongues with said slots at the point of nearest approach of said converging slots.

4. A means on a longitudinally grooved compass shank for holding a pencil in its groove, comprising an elastic split sleeve formed integrally with said shank and being substantially semi-circular in cross-section, the side walls of said sleeve formed with slots diverging from the top towards the lower end of said sleeve to form guide edges, a slide having a handle and being guided between the said guide edges, and laterally extending tongues formed with said slide guided in said slots in the side walls of the sleeve to firmly engage the material of the sleeve about a pencil placed therein upon the downward movement of the tongues of said slide in said diverging slots, said tongues grooved at their front face to engage the outer edge of the material of the sleeve in which the diverging slots are formed.

JOHN FISCHER. 

